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Events & Announcements

Spring 2025

  •     Konstantinos Karampakakis
    Congratulations!  Current Religious Studies Undergraduate Student Konstantinos Karampakakis’ book review on Religion and Myth has been published in Nvmen!  Konstantinos wrote the book review as an assignment in Dr. Jonathan Pettit’s REL 300 course and was encouraged to submit to journals for publication.  We are proud of his outstanding accomplishments as a student in our program!
  •     Dr. George Tanabe, Jr.
    Congratulations!  Former Department Chair and Emeritus Faculty member Dr. George Tanabe, Jr. has been recognized as one of the 2025 Living Treasures of Hawaiʻi!  Living Treasures of Hawaiʻi recognizes and honors individuals who have demonstrated excellence and high achievement in their particular field of endeavor, and who, through continuous growth, learning, and sharing, have made significant contributions toward enriching our society.  Read more about Dr. Tanabe’s well deserved recognition here.

Fall 2024

  •     December 11, 2024 (EDT, USA) Webinar – Taixu’s Perception on Christianity: Insights from an Early Twentieth-century Chinese Buddhist Teacher – Talk by Gábor Péter Boros
    3:00pm – 4:30pm HST Online via Zoom
    Register here.  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar
    Co-Sponsored by the Department of Religious and Ancient Civilizations and the Center for Chinese Studies
    Gábor Péter Boros is a Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher with our Department and a PhD candidate in Sinology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. 
  •     December 2, 2024 (EDT, USA) Christianity Transplanted and Transformed: The Case of Kagawa Toyohiko and the Friends of Jesus Movement – Talk by Mark R. Mullins
    1:30pm – Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room)
    Co-Sponsored by the Department of Religious and Ancient Civilizations and the Center for Japanese Studies
    Mark R. Mullins is a Professor of Japanese Studies & Director of the Japan Studies Centre at the University of Auckland.  

Summer 2024

  •     Alumni News:  Joshua Faumuina (BA Classics ’02) 
    Congrats!  BA Alum of Classics and current University of Hawaiʻi law school student Joshua Faumuina has been appointed by Gov. Josh Green to the UH Board of Regents (BOR) for a two-year term as the board’s student regent.    
  •     UH Endowment for the Humanities Summer 2024 Research Awards
    Congrats!  Two of our faculty members, Ramdas Lamb and Jonathan Pettit, have each received awards to support their research during the summer.  Ramdas Lamb traveled to India to learn more about the Ramananda Sampraday and the process and politics surrounding the construction of the new Ram temple in the city of Ayodha, Uttar Pradesh.  Jonathan Pettit traveled to Japan to further his research project on examining religious policies in the 1920s and 1930s in the Japanese Empire concerning Taiwan, Korea, and Manchuria.      
  •      AI in the Humanities:  A First at UHM
    In the Fall 2024 RLAC will be offering two pilot classes that use an Instructional AI software interface called Packback.  Students enrolled in REL 300 (Myth, Religion, and Society) and REL 207 (Understanding Buddhism) will have free access to AI functions that should contribute to improving student writing and critical thinking skills.  Read more about this in the #12 issue of CALL Lately 

Spring 2024

  •      May 11, 2024 (EDT, USA) Global Daoist Studies Forum: Spirit-Writing Practice and Culture in Late Joseon
    8-9:30PM on Saturday, May 11 (EDT, USA)
    8-9:30AM on Sunday, May 12 (Hong Kong time)
    9-10:30AM on Sunday, May 12 (Seoul time)
    Moderators: Xun Liu, Norifumi Sakai, and Jonathan Pettit
    To register, click HERE
    “Spirit Writing and Healing Practice of the Gwanwang Shrine in the Late Joseon Period” by Kim Jihyun
    “Korean Wenchang Spirit-Writing Scriptures of the 19th Century” by Kim Youn Gyeong
  •      March 14, 2024 Lecture by Jodi Magness “More than just Mosaics: The Ancient Synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee”
    7:30pm University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Art Building Auditorium Room 132
    Organized by the Department of Religions & Ancient Civilizations, AIA-Hawaii, Sidney Stern Memorial Fund
    Professor Jodi Magness has been directing excavations in the ancient village of Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee since 2011. The excavations have brought to light the remains of a monumental Late Roman (fifth century AD) synagogue building paved with stunning and unique mosaics, including biblical scenes and the first non-biblical story ever discovered decorating an ancient synagogue. In this slide-illustrated lecture, Professor Magness describes these exciting finds, including the discoveries made in the last season. For more information visit www.huqoq.org or contact Robert Littman (littman@hawaii.edu)

Fall 2023

  •      October 18, 2023  Lecture by Dr. Robert Littman “The Rosetta Stone, the Egyptian Revolt and Tell Timai”
    12:30pm University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Sakamaki Hall Room A201
    Organized by the History Forum
    The Rosetta Stone contains a bilingual decree, written in Egyptian and Greek that was the key to the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.  The proclamation established the divine cult of the new ruler, Ptolemy 5 in 196 BC, amidst a major revolt of the native Egyptians against the Greeks.      This lecture will discuss the Rosetta Stone, the Egyptian revolt, and the new archaeological discoveries related to the Egyptian revolt at the site of Tell Timai, in the Nile Delta.  Read Article 
  •      In Memoriam:  Dr. Cromwell Crawford
    Our sincere thoughts of sympathy go to the family of Dr. Cromwell Crawford, who passed away on August 11, 2023.  Dr. Crawford served as a long time faculty member for 40+ years in the Department of Religion from 1965-2007.  During his time at the University of Hawaii, he served as the Department Chair and Graduate Chair of the Department of Religion as well as the Director of the Center for South Asian Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies.  He was a devoted teacher, who received an award from Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle in 2005 for teaching for 40 years without missing a single day of class.  We will remember his many contributions to our department and students.   

Summer 2023

  •      Congratulations to Professor Marie Alohalani Brown!
    Marie Alohalani Brown has been promoted to Professor, the highest academic rank at the University of Hawai’i!  Her promotion reflects an already distinguished career with the promise of many more important contributions to come.  She will also take on the role as Graduate Chair for the Department starting in August 2023.  Congratulations!  

Spring 2023

  •      April 7-8, 2023  International Workshop organized by Prof. Michel Mohr
    “Befriending the Afterlife: Approaches to Death and Dying in the East-Asian Traditions”
    Held at National Taiwan University
    Prof. Mohr will also present “From Tomb to Womb: Reflections on the Usage of the Embryo Metaphor in the Chinese Version of the Tathāgathagarbhasūtra”
  •      March 21, 2023  Talk by Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo
    “Wisdom from the Center of the Heart:  Buddhism, Race & Sexuality”
    6:30pm – 7:30pm University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Watanabe Hall Room 112
  •      March 17, 2023  Paper Presentation by Prof. Jonathan Pettit
    “Stony Brains and Divine Apples: Drugs, Poetry, and the Limits of Being Human in 4th Century China”
    This paper investigates how writers and readers of early medieval Daoist writings envisioned their human identities in relation to obtaining godhood.  It will be presented at the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts
  •      March 1, 2023  Faculty Round Table moderated by Prof. Jonathan Pettit
    Epigraphic and Archeological Materials as Sources for Daoist Lived Religion
    (Co-Sponsored by the Center for Chinese Studies)
    This roundtable features a research project that moves beyond canonical textual sources to advance the study of Daoism through archaeological and epigraphic materials, including statues, stele inscriptions, cave shrines, temple inscriptions, and inscribed tomb epitaphs.
  •      Congratulations to Religions Student Justin Takiguchi!
    Justin is the inaugural recipient of the Elizabeth Spann Award, given to support undergraduate research/education for students in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters.  Justin has engaged in intensive study of Ancient Greek and Hebrew and was nominated for the award by the RAC faculty.    
  •      February 14, 2023 Book Talk with Prof. Jonathan Pettit
    “A Library of Clouds: The Scripture of the Immaculate Numen and the Rewriting of Daoist Texts”
    4:00pm – 5:00pm Hamilton Library Room 306 
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